Subhuti was Buddha's disciple. He was able to understand the potency of emptiness, that nothing exists except in its relationship of subjectivity and objectivity. One day, in a mood of sublime emptiness, Subhuti was resting underneath a tree...
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Posted on Jul.02.2013 @ 08:25PM EDTbycluvbluv
I did not find Buddhism. Buddhism found me. Now I am seeking to develop a healthy and long lasting practice of this spiritual school of thought. The more I learn, the more I crave further knowledge. I have had a difficult time obtaining simple to follow steps for a rookie to the spiritual practice. So here I am reaching out to other Buddhists. I am in dyer need of guides and possibly future mentoring. Please, any help would be appreciated. I seek a life of deep spiritual practice thru leadership.

In my current understanding , no one could ever have any reason to teach others of Buddhism including Mr Siddharta himself because Buddhism is all about ownselve , is all about you knowing " you" and " yourself" , is all about discovering / learning / experiencing / knowing own emotion / desire / compassion / love / fear / anger / hate / ego etc leading to acceptance of " ownselve" and " emptiness" the original condition of all .

So in Buddhism is all about learning NEVER teaching . We could learn from all thing , anyone regardless their background / nature in discovering our ownselves .....everything / anyone is same and equal in Buddhism as all living or non-living is in own journey / own process releasing its polluted energy that causes their existance towards emptiness back into nothingness ..........all is alone and never connected .

If you seek a deep spiritual life then you must find a teacher and a sangha.Teachers can be found in Zen or Buddhism centers.Sangha is the group of people you share your practice with.

In practice, usually the first thing they teach is beginners meditation ... Zazen.The steps are easy but difficult to master.First get into a seated position with the back straight and the head aligned.Second close the eyes and put your attention on your breathing.When you breathe in, watch it carefully.Then breathe out, again watch it carefully ... count one.Repeat and count two.Do this again until you reach ten and then start again at one.At some time, while you are practicing this, you will lose count or your attention will drift.Your mind will chase thoughts. Just let the thoughts come and go.Don't chase or push out or try to control. Just let the mind calm on its own.Whenever you realize you are not on your breathe, return to counting breathe.Continue for twenty minutes or longer if you wish.Do this every day.

A good website for learning and discussion is ...Here is a free flow and everything gets talked about.At ZenForumInternational.org, it is a more serious and regulated site.To each their own ... or you could try them both and see for yourself.

You will learn more about Buddhism among those who practice Buddhism. These websites are filled with those interested in philosophical debate rather than practice. Do not stop with one form of Buddhism, continue to search until you sense a teaching that "fits", they each point to the same thing and enable your practice. My "understanding" of Zen has been greatly amplified by my research into Bon "Buddhism", Dzogchen and Shambhala. I do not recommend remaining within an intellectual understanding alone. Go, where you will be taught meditation and mindfulness. I move freely among the Zen community here, Bon and Shambhala, though I have committed to Shambhala. I attend Dharma discussions at the Zen and Shambhala center both, though I feel my home is in Shambhala.

Zen was born at a time when Buddhism had transformed into a philosophy rather than a practice. When you discover this, you will understand why the Zen community is the way it is. A Buddhist traveler could wander from town to town teaching about "emptiness", but often a Zen practitioner/ teacher could turn this person upside down for standing on a concept or notion. It was a necessary evolution. This does now however discount the gradual paths which teach the structure and form, combining intellectual understanding with actual practice simultaneously.

Yet, when you see people here on these websites bandy about the word "Zen", they are involved in the very thing that Zen was born to cut away...the overly conceptualized, intellectual understanding, divorced from direct experience.

Zen can be discouraging if you have a belief that you are going to aquire something. It is more an uncovering of what is already there.

AH! BLESSED LORD! OH, HIGH DELIVERER! FORGIVE THIS FEEBLE SCRIPT, WHICH DOTH THEE WRONG, MEASURING WITH LITTLE WIT THY LOFTY LOVE. AH! LOVER! BROTHER! GUIDE! LAMP OF THE LAW! 80I TAKE MY REFUGE IN THY NAME AND THEE! I TAKE MY REFUGE IN THY LAW OF GOOD! I TAKE MY REFUGE IN THY ORDER! OM! THE DEW IS ON THE LOTUS!—RISE, GREAT SUN! AND LIFT MY LEAF AND MIX ME WITH THE WAVE. 85OM MANI PADME HUM, THE SUNRISE COMES! THE DEWDROP SLIPS INTO THE SHINING SEA!

Do not believe that the Heaven you contemplate in the suprasensory is the visible sky. No, in the suprasensory there are other Skies, more subtle, bluer, purer, brighter, innumerable and limitless. The purer you become within, the purer and more beautiful is the Sky that appears to you, until finally you are walking in divine purity. But divine purity is also limitless. So never believe that beyond what you have reached, there is nothing more, nothing higher still.

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Know that the soul, the devil, the angel are not realities outside of you; you are they. Likewise Heaven and Earth are not outside of you, nor paradise, nor hell, nor death, nor life. They exist in you; when you have come out toward oneself, you will realise that.